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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

The Amazing Race Canada: Squishing in Saskatoon

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First, my apologies to those of you expected an Amazing Race Canada review last week. I took a week-long holiday and was, literally, off the grid. And second, after finally watching it, what’s with so many teams opting to take time penalties? To me, taking the penalty is a last-ditch decision, not gameplay.

Irina and Dave, Trish and Amy and Meaghan and Marie all skipped “Clamageddon,” which was a real shame. The fun of The Amazing Race Canada is watching teams compete … not sit on the sidelines. (Meanwhile, Aarthy and Thinesh and Anthony and James are showing what teamwork can do.) With Sarah and Sam landing in first place last week—and Meaghan and Marie eliminated—the remaining teams headed to Saskatoon.

It was nice to see a different team in the lead heading into this Leg and the athletes were hoping their “brave” mantra wound serve them well; Lauren and Joanne hoped their hometown would give them an advantage. Meanwhile, Dave and Irina continue to have targets on their backs and called a quick meeting at the Nanaimo airport for everyone to talk. It did not go well, however, and teams left even more fractured than before.

A woman and a man walk.Teams headed to the Canadian Light Source with Anthony and James in the top spot. Once there, they were instructed to journey to the Nutrien Cory Potash Mine. At the mine, teams went a kilometre below the surface to hang and seal ventilation curtains. Anthony and James have had recent experience hanging plastic thanks to some home renovations, so they worked fairly quickly and completed the task first, followed by hometown girls Lauren and Joanne and Sarah and Sam. Aarthy and Thinesh, who had an Express Pass to use, were struggling.

Next up: a trip to the local Shell station to fill up and get those ever-important tear-inducing messages and clues from home. Then, teams travelled to Champêtre County Vacation Ranch for the Detour. Here, squads could either Dance in a Square (calling square dance moves and dancing) or Walk in Circles (find ornamental corn hidden in a massive barn board maze). Anthony and James entered maze (I would have chosen that too), as did Lauren and Joanne, Sarah and Sam and everyone else. Dave and Irina chose Dance in a Square … and then, rightly, switched to do the maze instead. Trish and Amy chose to dance/call too and stuck with it.

Anthony and James whipped through the maze fairly quickly—I wonder if Anthony’s height was an advantage?—and they moved on in first place.

Two women read words on a card.At Victoria Park, teams participated in lacrosse with the Saskatchewan Rush, first passing the ball to each other and then hitting two of four targets. Again, Anthony and James completed the task quickly and departed while everyone else was still back at the ranch. Sam and Sarah exited in second place to look for Jon, with Dave and Irina in hot pursuit.

The Leg’s Pit Stop was located at the Remai Modern Art Museum, and with over 15 minutes of broadcast left, that meant teams were going to really struggle. That was proven correct by Lauren and Joanne, who kept heading back towards the entrance rather than finding the exit. Aarthy and Thinesh did the same thing, which kept them towards the back of the pack.

Anthony and James completed the Leg in pole position, scoring a trip to Costa Rica and free gas for a year. They were followed by Sarah and Sam and Irina and Dave. It came down to a footrace between Aarthy and Thinesh and Trish and Amy, with the former arriving just ahead of the latter, giving the moms … yet another chance because it a non-elimination Leg. The pair will have to complete an additional challenge next week.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Anthony and James
  2. Sarah and Sam
  3. Irina and Dave
  4. Lauren and Joanne
  5. Aarthy and Thinesh
  6. Trish and Amy (non-elimination Leg)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

Amazing Race Canada: Express Passes and stolen cabs in Yellowknife

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I was really hoping that the grandfather/grandson team of Gilles and Sean would fare better. I’m sure they did too. Alas, one of the biggest challenges on The Amazing Race Canada is how difficult it is to come from behind. You not only need luck and skill on your side but you have to rely on other teams to screw up massively.

The Top 7 teams—how are we almost halfway through the season already?—jetted to Yellowknife, NWT, with Dave and Irina in the lead. (Yellowknife is one of the countless places I visited while writing about Canadian television for TV Guide Canada, and it holds a special place in my heart thanks to the show Ice Pilots.) Dave and Irina were planning on using their Express Pass wisely … and perhaps seeing some penguins too. (Um, wrong part of the world. I’m beginning to think Dave and Irina are putting on an act.) Aarthy and Thinesh were in second place with an Express Pass to use too, as were Anthony and James. With a trio of passes in play, this Leg promised to be entertaining. And who could forget Trish and Amy’s One Way courtesy of Lauren and Joanne? There could be drama too!

The Somba K’E Civic Plaza was the teams’ first clue location and directed them to Rotary Park. (Thanks to the show producers for letting viewers know it was -21 Celsius when the Leg was filmed.) With taxis at a premium, landing one was a huge get; Sarah and Sam did just that. While some teams stayed close to the airport waiting for a cab, Trish and Amy walked along the road and scooped one, and a spot in sixth place. At the Plaza, Dave and Irina made a mistake, allowing their driver to leave. That dropped them back into fifth place. They promptly negotiated a double fare and scooped Trish and Amy’s cab, cementing their villain status.

At Great Slake Lake, teams rode snowmobiles to the scene of ice fishing, where they had to drill holes in the ice and bait a morsel using traditional Dene First Nations equipment. Sarah and Sam completed the wet, slushy task first—sadly, teams were not required to hang around for a bite—and departed, with Meaghan and Marie, Anthony and James, Dave and Irina and Aarthy and Thinesh in pursuit. Lauren and Joanne were left alone on the frozen lake and then without a taxi.

Two people ice fish.In the Road Block, teams headed into downtown Yellowknife to the NWT Diamond Centre to identify the six out of seven diamonds marked with a maple leaf and marking number and then arrange them from heaviest to lightest weight. Sam, Marie, James, Dave, Trish and Thinesh all chose to do the challenge, giving Amy and Aarthy the chance to discuss cab theft. It’s really hard to cheer for Dave and Irina, but I guess it doesn’t matter if you like them or not because they are killing it in tests. Dave was the first to correctly identify and classify the diamonds, followed by Sam, Thinesh, Lauren and Marie. James neglected to find the maple leaf on the diamonds so had no idea what he was doing incorrectly. It was only after Trish finished identifying the diamonds that James and Anthony deployed their Express Pass.

Back on Great Slave Lake, the team member who didn’t identify the diamonds dove into the water swam under the ice to sang their next clue. Dave and Irina used their Express Pass to skip this one (I would have too), but Sarah had to face her dual fears of the cold and the water and had to do it. By the time she was suited up, Sarah was crying, and I felt badly for her. She blasted through the test and almost leapt out the other side with the Route Info in her icy hand. For some reason, Aarthy chose to dive rather than use the Express Pass. All power to her for facing her fear (“It’s so cold!” “Yeah, it’s meant to be.” “What if I open my mouth accidentally?” “Don’t do that.”), and dove in. Joanne didn’t even grab the rope—she is a competitive swimmer—and zipped from hole to hole. She was followed by Meaghan. Trish and Amy, once again, finished a task only to discover their cab had left, putting them in last place.

Two people ice fish.The Leg’s next location was the Air Tindi Float Base where teams worked to locate 10 different rescue sites accessible by plane. Dave and Irina struggled with the task and began to bicker. Ultimately, they took a two-hour penalty, hoping the remaining teams would have issues too. Sam and Sarah had done their homework—by stopping at a store to Google “longitude and latitude,” but still had problems. Thinesh and Aarty, meanwhile, blew through it using their “Grade 3 geography.” Sam and Sarah left in their cab in search of someone who could explain what they needed to accomplish. They found it at Aurora Geosciences. Aarty and Thinesh, meanwhile, located the 10 rescue spots and hopped into a plane to the Pit Stop. Meaghan and Marie, Sarah and Sam and Lauren and Joanne.

In what I think was an Amazing Race Canada first, Sam and Sarah didn’t have enough money to pay for their cab. With no other option, they headed back to Aurora Geosciences and asked for a $90 loan. In true Canadian North fashion, they were given the money.

The Leg’s Pit Stop was located at the Dene First Nation Community Dettah, a float plane ride away. Dave and Irina checked in first, but had to wait two hours. Because of that, Aarthy and Thinesh landed in first, scoring a trip to Dublin.

For keen-eyed Amazing Race Canada fans, it’s just a matter of time until a non-Elimination Leg will come up. Luckily for last-place finishers Trish and Amy, it came this week and they were saved to race again. They pair will have to suffer through an extra challenge.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Aarthy and Thinesh
  2. Meaghan and Marie
  3. Dave and Irina
  4. Sarah and Sam
  5. Lauren and Joanne
  6. Anthony and James
  7. Trish and Amy (non-Elimination Leg)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Comments and queries for the week of July 19

I actually like the concept of the One Way and am glad they didn’t render it useless by having this be a non-elimination episode. The picture of John Lennon, the John Cena figure and the picture of Jon was funny. And that little leaf! Amy shouldn’t have said that out loud though I knew they could probably win a foot race against Sean and Gilles. Dave and Irina are really soaking up the villain role. —DanAmazing

I really liked the first season [of Diggstown] and I was surprised but pleased (because the ratings weren’t stellar) that it got renewed. —Alicia

Got a question or comment about Canadian TV? Email greg.david@tv-eh.com or via Twitter @tv_eh.

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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

The Amazing Race Canada: Getting revved up in Revelstoke, B.C.

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In last week’s Season 7 debut, returning competitors Jet and Dave showed that even veteran Racers can make a rooke mistake on The Amazing Race Canada, when neglecting to grab a map led to their elimination.

This time around—and in a special timeslot—the remaining teams began Leg 2 in British Columbia, and headed to Revelstoke. Dave and Irina—who finished first last week, claimed two Express Passes and talked a surprising amount of trash about their competitors—were the first to depart for the two-hour-plus drive through the mountains. Along the way, teams were instructed to keep an eye out for a clue signifying the last spike. Athletes Sarah and Sam were the next to drive out of town, followed by sisters Meaghan and Marie, sisters Lauren and Joanne, friends Trish and Amy, married couple Anthony and James, couple Aarthy and Thinesh, Nikki and Aisha and Gilles and Sean.

It was at the site of the last spike that Racers learned the Leg’s Road Block: someone would be driving a motorbike course. Marie, Dave, Joanne, Sam, James and Trish all hit the course around the same time, with different levels of success. The best part? When those not doing the Road Block realized Jet and Dave weren’t around. But back to the bikes, where Marie took a major header over her handlebars. She was OK, but the replay of the crash showed how violent it was. Marie and Dave were a little slow the first time around, but were under the two-minute mark on their second try and completed the task. Nicki and Aisha were caught, literally, on the other side of the mountain and had to backtrack. Sean, who was oh-so-confident he would breeze through (he rides a bike to work every day, he confided to Sam), fell over two feet into the course.

In the Detour, teams had to choose between Plant (planting 40 tree seedlings at the correct depth and distance) or Paddle (take to the water in tethered kayaks and collect flags). Those choosing to plant included Dave and Irina, Anthony and James, Trish and Amy, Nicki and Aisha, and Lauren and Joanne. Those opting to paddle were Meaghan and Marie (who just happen to be expert, competitive paddlers), Gilles and Sean, Sarah and Sam, and Aarthy and Thinesh.

A man rides a dirt bike.Dave and Irina were just two trees away from completing their task when they realized they hadn’t used the included rope to measure off the planting distances. They would have to do it all again. Meaghan and Marie had no issues and left the Detour in top spot.

Next up was the Revelstoke Railway Museum, where duos worked together to create a model train laid out in a specific way. This was a detail-oriented task, and Meaghan was distracted by other teams’ arriving. Teams like Aarthy and Thinesh who came, saw and whipped off the challenge in their first try. Dave and Irina were next, followed by Gilles and Sean, Sarah and Sam, Meaghan and Marie and Anthony and James. Lauren and Joanne, meanwhile, were still planting trees and arguing.

The Leg’s Pit Stop was located at the Revelstoke Mountain Resort, where teams took a gondola ride to the top to search for Jon. It was, shockingly, Aarthy and Thinesh who turned a seventh-place start into a first-place finish and a trip to Madrid and an Express Pass. Dave and Irina were next (and Irina showed poor gamesmanship, in my opinion), followed by Gilles and Sean, Sarah and Sam, Meaghan and Marie, and Anthony and James. Aisha and Nicki headed in the wrong direction leaving an opportunity for Lauren and Joanne to make up ground.

And, in the end, that’s exactly what happened as the sisters beat out out the best friends to the mat; Aisha and Nicki were eliminated from the Race. What did you think of this Leg? Were you expecting it to be a non-elimination? Let me know in the comments below.

Here’s how the teams finished this Leg of the Race:

  1. Aarthy and Thinesh
  2. Dave and Irina
  3. Gilles and Sean
  4. Sarah and Sam
  5. Meaghan and Marie
  6. Anthony and James
  7. Trish and Amy
  8. Lauren and Joanne
  9. Aisha and Nicki (eliminated)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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Amazing Race Canada, Featured

The Amazing Race Canada sprints into Season 7

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After seven seasons, I honestly didn’t think The Amazing Race Canada would still be interesting to watch. But, as it is with reality competition programming, it’s the contestants that make a show compelling. Kudos to the casting department at Insight for continuing to find Canadians we really care about as they hurtle around this country and parts of the world on a quest to win two 2019 Chevrolet Blazer RS, a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two around the world, the $250,000 cash prize and the title of champions.

As previously announced, nine pairs of new competitors were ready to race alongside Canada’s Choice, Jet and Dave, who first appeared in Season 1, where they placed fourth. Coming into Tuesday’s return, I wasn’t a fan of this decision. I much prefer a completely fresh cast, but you can’t deny the two friends are fun to watch.

The teams began Season 7 just down the block from Bell Media’s Toronto headquarters in a small park nestled up against Roy Thomson Hall. At the drop of Jon Montgomery’s finger, they were on the way, snagging knapsacks and Route Info to Extreme Reach Recording Studio. Couple Dave and Irina were the first to arrive, followed by Jet and Dave, grandfather and grandson Gilles and Sean, friends Nicki and Aisha, married couple Anthony and James, athletes Sarah and Sam, sisters Lauren and Joanne and dating couple Aarthy and Thinesh. Moms and friends Trish and Amy were the last to arrive.

Instructed to lend their voice to a trailer for The Lion King (the first of what will be many, many, sponsorship plugs this season), Irina, Jet, Aisha, Sean, Anthony, Sam, Meaghan, Lauren, Thinesh and Trish stepped up to the microphones for their teams. Irina completed her voice work in the first take—she took it very seriously—and she and Dave departed. It took some folks a while to realize that timing was the key to success. Sadly, Sam wasted precious time thinking he had to memorize the script.

A group of people run toward the camera.Next up was the Ontario Food Terminal, where teams had to run around 100,000 square feet of cold space to find two halves of a postcard that revealed the next clue. Irina and Dave got there in first place, closely followed by Jet and Dave, Aisha and Nicki, Meaghan and Marie, Trish and Amy, Gilles and Sean, Lauren and Joanne and Anthony and James. Sarah and Sam and Aarthy and Thinesh, meanwhile, were still stuck at the studio. Thinesh finally completed the task, leaving the Olympic hopefuls in last.

Jet and Dave put the pieces together and headed off for Kamloops, B.C., on one of two flights. Irina and Dave, Aisha and Nicki, Joanne and Lauren and Trish and Amy were nipping at their heels and scored seats on the first flight. The others were on the second, delayed by 30 minutes.

In the Road Block, the person who didn’t voice the trailer were tasked with ziplining over an old copper mine and dropping a ball into a target below. Dave missed on his first try, as did Nicki, but Irina’s Dave landed it and they regained first place. Amy and Trish were befuddled by the map and argued over where to go. Sarah and Sam leapfrogged to fourth place, just ahead of Trish and Amy; Gilles and Sean were left behind. As Sean said, they’d need another team to make a mistake for them to recover. That seemed to come in the form of Jet and Dave, who were trying to navigate with no map and, ultimately, learned they had gone 80 km in the wrong direction.

Next was the Circle Creek Equestrian Centre, where teams searched moving cattle for a clue. Staying still was the name of the game for this test and Irina and Dave quickly learned their final destination: the Pit Stop at the Kamloops Bike Ranch. Sarah and Sam and Lauren and Joanne worked together to learn the destination. It was Dave and Irina who arrived first, confident and picking up a trip to South Africa and two Express Passes (one to use and one to give away). Sarah and Sam, who I thought would be eliminated, arrived on the mat next, followed by Meaghan and Marie and Lauren and Joanne.

It was Jet and Dave who arrived in front of Jon last, and they were eliminated from the Race. Wow, after the voting and the pomp and circumstance surrounding their return and the pair were cut in Week 1.

Here’s how the teams finished the first Leg of the Race:

  1. Dave and Irina
  2. Sarah and Sam
  3. Meaghan and Marie
  4. Lauren and Joanne
  5. Trish and Amy
  6. Anthony and James
  7. Aarthy and Thinesh
  8. Nicki and Aisha
  9. Gilles and Sean
  10. Jet and Dave (eliminated)

The Amazing Race Canada airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV. It airs at a special time, 9:30 p.m. ET/PT, next week.

Images courtesy of Bell Media.

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